Old Faces & New Faces
by smasher2k
Summary: The Doctor's past and future collide. River meets Clara for the first time and bond over a book. But what does that have to do with the Pond's? The Doctor can never see him again or so he thinks...
1. Chapter 1

Old Faces & New Faces

Chapter One

Clara stood staring at the central console. The Doctor had just come to pick her up to take her on one his amazing adventures to try and persuade her to travel with him full time. The Doctor was currently ensconced underneath the central console, tinkering with some part of his ship and she could hear in his voice that he was getting exasperated that whatever he was doing was not going well.

Suddenly there was a loud beeping sound and a message came up on the screen in front of her. Bending down she looked the gangly man in the face and spoke out to him.

"Doctor, someone seems to have left a message for you. I am just currently trying to work out how a box which can travel through time and space can get text messages.

The Doctor pulled himself out up, and bounced up to his feet. "I'll explain it how it works later, first thing is to find out who wants me."

He pulled the monitor around to him and pressed a few buttons pulling the fully message up on the screen. A beaming smile appeared on his face and he looked at his latest companion.

"You don't mind a quick detour do you, there's someone I want you to meet. "

"I guess this has something to do with your mysterious message. Considering it put a smile on your face I am all game."

The Doctor bounded around the console, pressing buttons and moving levers almost at random according to Clara's eyes.

The humming and noise of the engines picked up, almost like the Doctor has bumped it into overdrive to get them there sooner. And to Clara's astonishment he was standing there now adjusting his bowtie and preening at his hair. At this point Clara couldn't wait to see who could affect the Doctor in that way.

River stood sheltering underneath one of the many trees on this planet waiting on the arrival of the TARDIS and the Doctor, she knew that he would come running as soon as he saw the message from her. Such was the enthrallment of him to her.

The sun was blazing hot, and most people would take advantage to feel the sun on their skin if the spent as much time as River did underground at archeologically digs. But Not River, as well as inheriting her red hair from her Scottish mother she had also inherited her fair skin which burned at the mere touch of a warm sun.

She suddenly felt a rush of wind hit her in the face followed quickly by the sound of the TARDIS materializing. She smiled slightly to herself recognising the sound as been the noise the Doctor loved so much. The sound the TARDIS made when the brakes were left on.

Finally the TARDIS has materialised in front of her and strode confidential forward, reaching for the handle on the TARDIS door. Knowing by instinct that even without having a key to enter her, as the child of the TARDIS she would be allowed access regardless.

Pushing the door open her eyes feasted on the console room. Once more the Doctor has decided that he want to change the console room.

She saw him standing casually against the railing trying to act like he wasn't affected by her arrival. When in fact he was bounding balls of nerves. Sensing that she strode over to him purposively as he called out to her.

"Hello, River" His voice deep and with feeling.

"Hello Sweetie!" She responded as soon as she meet him. Leaning over to kiss him, loving the affect she could have on this man as he deepened the kiss with her. As usual when she started to kiss him he was nervous and always unsure what to do with lips but he quickly got into the swing of it, his tongue probing trying to get access to her mouth. River was about to give him access when she heard a woman's voice ringing across the console room.

"You tried to tell me it wasn't, but I knew it all along. This is nothing but a snog box. Do you make a habit of letting every woman who walks through the TARDIS door kiss you?"

River looked over to where the voice originated and recognised the face of the woman, and knew that with her being on the TARDIS it meant only one thing and she place her left hand onto the Doctor's arm.

"Manhattan has happened?" She questioned lightly, knowing if it had than this was the Doctor who was still getting over the loss of her parents.

The Doctor didn't speak, but River could see it in his eyes as soon as she mentioned it. The haunted look caused by a great loss.

Clara could see the look that was being passed between them and her interest was piqued at the moment. But her interest was more centred on the older woman who had had come in and had planted one on the Doctor.

"Well Doctor, Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend. I presume you do know who she is?" Clara's voice was dripping in sarcasm.

The Doctor quickly became flustered and he felt a red heat creep up his face as he started to blush after realising what Clara has just seen.

"Um, Clara, Um… This is River, Umm she is my umm…"

River stepped in, sensing that this introduction could take a while if the Doctor continued on mumbling as he was at this time.

"As he is trying to say" River said stepping towards Clara. "I'm River, Doctor River Song. And the words that he is trying to get out to describe my connection to him, is that I am his wife"

"His wife?" Clara said her eyebrow arching up.

"Isn't that right sweetie?" River said looking across at him. Knowing that Clara was trying to work out how that could happen by the way they looked now. Considering that her last regeneration had left her in the body of a fortyish old woman. A good looking woman but definitely someone who looked much older that what the Doctor did in this regeneration.

River could see that Clara was still slightly confused.

"Don't let the age gap you see between us get in the way. In reality the Doctor is much older than me."

Looking up onto the Console she could see a book lying on top of it. Spying the authors name on it, she stepped closer to it. Hoping that she had misread the name. But there it was in black and white Amelia Williams, with a cover picture which she could only describe as her first self. The one that Amy had seen in Florida. Picking the book up quickly; she cradled it into her arms. A tear welling in the corner of her eye.

Clara stepped over to her

"I see you are fan as well. I've always loved Amelia William's stories ever since my Mum read them to me when I was little. Especially considering how long ago they were written she does have a knack of predicting technology accurately. Of course the main topic of conversation is always why the lead character is always called Melody. "

River smiled slightly, this was just like her mother. And she knew that character had to be called that so Amy could remind her that she was always in her thoughts even though she never went by that name any more.

River put the book down and turned to look at the Doctor's newest companion.

"I am certain Amy would love that the fact that her novels are still being enjoyed even now. And especially that people are discussing the motives about the name Melody"

Clara was intrigued. The way that River spoke made it sound like she knew much more about this woman than she could of ever had read.

"Amy? You speak about the author of those books like you actually now her personally. But considering what the Doctor has told me about this Box, I guess he took you to meet her once, considering you seem to be fan.

"Actually I know her a lot better than that. And we have meet more than once. We are family to one another."

"Oh my, you are close friends with my favourite author." Clara practically skipped across the TARDIS to the Doctor "You know what you said about where I wanted to go, well can I go meet Amelia Williams considering you and your wife know her so well."

The Doctor just stood there staring at the TARDIS door. Not wanting to respond knowing that he could never fulfil Clara's wish.

"How about it Doctor?"

The Doctor never turned around. He just stared at the door. His voice rang out completely devoid of any emotion as not to bring up those memories.

"Tell her River."

"Clara come over here. There is some things that I need to tell you about Amelia Williams. You took it when I said that we were family that we family that we were very close friends with each other and that I thought of her like family. In actual fact she is my family. Amelia Williams is my family. In fact she is my Mother."

Clara picked up her book and stared at the cover.

"You're making all this up. I've read hundreds of biographies of her life, and they have never mentioned in any of them that she had a daughter but only an adopted son because she was unable to her children herself. I don't think the people who wrote them would miss a big fact like that."

"But of course these biographies also say that she was born in the 1920's. Amy must of let those been written considering how popular she came as an author. But there was most definitely things that she would omitted to them."

"Like it seems that she had a daughter that no-one has heard about, who seems to be able to travel through time as well."

"And a lot more than that. That she was born Amelia Pond but she hated that name growing up and insisted that everyone called her Amy only or she wouldn't talk to them for days. Or that the man she married Rory Williams was one of her best friends growing up, and that they were brought together by their joint best friend." River said that glossing over for a minute that she was the best friend. Considering she still had to broach that fact that was born thousands of years later than she should have been.

"Or the fact that she was born in 1989. The same as her husband."

"That is impossible. Because that would make her about my age. And those books were written years before I was even born. And you say that you are her daughter, but you have to be over twenty years older than her. There is no way she could be father. This just does not make any sense yet." Clara's mind was reeling. Everything that River had just said made her mind reel. That the woman whose' books were read to her as she grew up, that were written in the 1950's were by a Woman who was born only a year before her.

River placed a hand onto Clara's shoulder trying to bring her some reassurance.

"I know that it doesn't make sense, but believe me it is all true. As I said before Amelia is my Mother which you believe is physically impossible as I am physically much older than her. I am sure that the Doctor has told already that his blue box here can travel through time and space. That's exactly what my parents did. They travelled through time with him. My mother became pregnant with me whilst she was on the TARDIS but..." River took a deep breath before continuing "But because of my conception whilst the TARDIS was in flight, my DNA contains Time Lord Traits which give me the ability to live for hundreds of years. Some people through I was unique enough that they could use me, so they kidnapped Amy from the TARDIS and took her to the 51st Century where I was born."

Clara took a deep breath in.

"Ok, that could explain how she managed to write those books in that time. You must have left her there for a while. But it still doesn't explain how you could still be older than her. I presuming after you were born that the Doctor must have found you and your Mother and took you away back to her normal time frame which still doesn't explain how you could be older than her. Which year did you parents travel with him and get Pregnant with you."

"2011" River responded back

"2011, which makes you only about two years in my sense of time."

"The Doctor was able to return my Mother back to then but not me. The people who took me, took me back to the 1960's and I grew up there. Of course there may be something the Doctor may not have mentioned which is that he can regenerate his entire body, physically turning into someone else. And at one point I could. This is the third body I've had. The second one I had grew up with Amy and Rory and became there best friend and got them together so I could be born."

River laughed at bit.

"With this face I meet parents before they even knew who I was, that I was there daughter and best friend. They found out the first part out on the day I was born and taken away. And the second part not so longer."

Clara's jaw dropped slightly.

"Your life sounds impossible."

"Just one of those things that come about from travelling with him" River said gesturing to her husband.

The Doctor turned around and faced both his wife and his newest friend.

"The reason I got River to tell you all that is because I get take you to meet Amy. They lives became part of a paradox, and they created a fixed point in time that I cannot travel to in the past. They lived there lives normally and died without me and River been able to see them again. Rory became a Doctor and Amy a writer. They adopted a child and raised him as Amy was unable to have Children after what they did to her after River was born or as I should say Melody Pond as that is what her parents called her. And that is why the main character is always called that name. So Amy could tell her daughter that she remembered her always."

"You can meet anyone else in history but you cannot meet them. A fixed point in time is something I cannot overcome. River and I can never see them again"

"Sweetie; that may not be true anymore. That's the reason I summoned you."

"River?" The Doctor asked

"I may have found a way to break that paradox and allow us to see them again."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Doctor looked at her wife. His mind reeling. He knew that River knew enough to know that a fixed point in time was something that could be broken. That the paradox which had first embroiled Rory and then Amy by her choice was not something that could be thrown away from a simple trip in the TARDIS.

"Sweetie, don't you believe me?"

The Doctor walked across to his wife, grabbing hold of her hand and squeezing it.

"River, I miss Rory and Amy as well. But you know I can't take the TARDIS back to New York in 1930's; the mere presence of either ourselves or the TARDIS will tear the universe apart."

Clara stumbled back. The sheer amount of information that she had thrust onto her in the last few minutes was overwhelming. From find out that the enigma of the man who was endlessly trying to persuade her to come travelling with him was not a carefree bachelor the she had assumed he was. A strange man who lived in box that was bigger on the inside than the out, but actually a married man with a wife who seemed as enigmatic as him it seems. And his wife's life was as confusing, she could understand the Doctor slightly, a man who was over a thousand years old and was alien seemed simple considering what happened in the past years in the London. But finding out this women had such a strong connection to Earth, and a confusing time line. Being the daughter of her favourite author, who was seemingly only born the year before she was, who wrote a book before she had even been born and had a daughter who should have been born two years ago who was actually older than her mother.

And know it seemed that the mere presence of the Doctor's ship in what could be considered an insignificant point in time in the grand scheme of things could cause the universe to tear apart. Knowing all this scared here, confused her but not actually ever knowing about this at all scared her as well. She felt her hand start to tremble, sensory overload had begun to take over her. And she felt her legs start to go from underneath here.

Suddenly she felt some feminine hand clamping onto her, steering hers to the nearest seat. Being caring enough not to let her slide to the floor."

"Clara!" River's voices called out. "What is the matter? Come here and sit down. Tell me what is wrong."

Clara took a deep breath, and exhaled it out of her mouth slowly.

"It is just everything I have found out, it's just too much. And now it seems you can talk so clavier about tearing the universe apart regardless of the fact that the Doctor says it is impossible."

River looked quickly down at the floor and then back up at Clara.

"Clara, you may not know me but believe me I know you. You are stronger than you think you are, you will get past this. And you may not know me yet Clara but believe me I wouldn't have mentioned it, if I didn't believe that what I can do to break that fixed point wouldn't the tear the universe apart, I wouldn't have mentioned it."

"I'm hoping the Doctor trusts what I am going to say to him, will work. And hopefully you will as well. You may think you are an insignificant party in this decision. But know this Clara, if the Doctor trusts you enough to allow you into the TARDIS, then your opinion matters."

The Doctor started to pace around the TARDIS console trying to get his thoughts into order. The chance to see the Ponds again was something he could never imagine could happen again. Once Amy had let the angel take her there was no way for him to able to go and get them. They were trapped in that time frame.

He stopped and looked at his wife.

"River, how do you come up with this assumption? You know as much as I do about Temporal Mechanics. Time is cracked throughout 1938 all around New York. You know if I take the TARDIS anyway near that point in time the results will be catastrophic."

"Firstly Sweetie, It was Amy. And secondly, think about what you were said. Time is cracked in 1938 over New York City, but you have been to New York in other years without any problems. That is the key."

"How could you have spoken to Amy, time is so broken at that point you wouldn't be able to go to enter that time frame even with your vortex manipulator. And have you considered the gravestone we both saw. Your parents lived to those ages and were buried there. That cannot be broken at all." The Doctor was starting to get flustered unsure how Amy who despite his many lectures never truly grasped temporal machines and how time limes worked.

"Sometimes you forget the simplest of things. You played your trick with her mobile phone, to allow her to call anyone regardless to what time or part of space she was in. She didn't know how to contact the TARDIS, but she did know how to contact me. On the day in her garden when I told her you weren't dead, I programed her phone so she could contact me. She had her phone with her that day in the cemetery. Dad worked out a way for her to charge it. Once he did, she contacted me. To tell me they were safe and that they loved me even if they couldn't see me anymore. During one of our conversations she mentioned my diary and the day you gave it to me. It made me think, you took me to New York once before in another year."

"We went there before the paradox, which is why it was okay. River, if we go now the results will be dire. You remember what happened with the Pandorica, you managed to bring it back once but I don't think we could do it again. And even if we could, what about the grave. That grave shows that they died in New York which means they had to have lead there rest of the lives there." The Doctor walked around to his wife and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "I know that you miss them Honey, so do I. But there is no way of us to go back to them. They are gone River, and I am so Sorry."

Clara has just stood there listening to exchange between River and the Doctor. Some of the items that River discussed had confused her but she could hear the conviction in her voice that she truly believed that her plan would work.

Believing what River had said that her opinion would matter, she decided to voice her feelings on the matter. Coughing slightly she grabbed their attention.

"I may be new to this but if River is certain that her Mothers plan would work than you should hear her out. As you know Doctor I lost my Mother, and I would act the same as River if I had the opportunity to get her back. Let her Talk Doctor, let her tell us her Parents plan. You said River knows as much as you in regards to temporal dynamics, she seems certain it will work. So let her prove it to us."

The Doctor stood there shocked, he had forgotten for the moment how strong willed Clara was. A mistake for him. Especially as he had meet her other incarnations and they had been the same. Letting his ego go to the side for the moment he spoke out.

"Go on River, tell me what Amy said. Tell me how she is. What her life is like."

Amy stood staring out of the window of her and Rory's apartment. It was not in the best part of New York but it was all they could manage on the Money they could get together for the low paying job that Rory had managed to get. As they were not part of this Time frame, they had no documents to prove who there were. So there was no way for Rory to prove his nursing qualifications, and because of the lack of papers either of them couldn't get a well-paid job so they struggled on barely getting by, trying to put some money away so they could get a better life.

To casual observer she may of seemed bitter about the situation she was in, but she wasn't. She was with Rory, the man she loved so much but she couldn't help thinking about the people she would never see again. Her beautiful Melody, the daughter she had barely spent any time with. Whilst River never referred to herself by that name, to protect herself from people who would use her. In her mind whatever name she went by in her life, this is how she would refer to her for the rest of her life. And her dear raggedy man, the man who made her life so much more interesting.

Hearing the sound of a key turning in the door, she turned around to face it. The only person it could be was Rory back from a long day of work. The door pushed open and Rory came through, a beaming smile of his face.

"I hope that smile is because of me." She said walking over to her husband and giving him a quick kiss.

"Well some of it is. I've got good news, I've found a way to charge your phone Amy."

"Rory, I know that you miss paying Tetris. But we have more important things to worry about then getting a bit of technology what we can't use in the 1938 to work. It's not like we can contact anyone on it. I don't fancy calling our parents to say that we can never see them again. And we have no way to contact the only people who could possible stand a chance of every getting us back to our time frame"

"But we do, remember in the garden the Day River told us the Doctor was alive. She programed your phone so you will be able to contact her. Remember how she explained that the Vortex Manipulator would route the call to any communication device that was near. We can call her Amy and tell her we are okay. I know how much you miss her and so do I, we may not be able to see her but at least we can talk to her"

From the moment for almost two hours Amy was a nervous and excited wreck. Knowing that any moment she would be able to speak to her daughter once again. She of course remembered the trick that The Doctor had played on her phone way back at the start of their adventures. But she couldn't believe that she had forgotten that River had told her and set her phone up so they will be able to phone her if ever they needed her.

"Amy, it times. There should be enough battery in the phone now. You call her, I know how much you miss her."

Grabbing the phone Amy called up her contacts list, scrolling down to find the contact listing in there. Rushing quickly past all the other letters desperately trying to get to R. To find River's name and to call her.

"Rory, it's not in there. River's name is not in there. It mustn't have saved. We were so close."

"Look again, I think she would have made certain that it was properly saved into your phone before giving it back."

Amy scrolled back to the top of the Contact list and slowly went through the list one by one. Smiling when she reached one of the contacts in there.

"Amy? Rory asked.

"It's in there. There was a reason. She didn't program it as River, but as Melody Pond" Amy was more than pleased with that. That the fact that River had never forgotten to her parents that she would always be there Melody.

Pressing the call button she placed it to her ear, listening to it dialling, a dial tone she had never heard before. Realising this must be the way the phone had to reach through time.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a voice coming through the speaker.

"Hello? Who is this? How do you manage to route this call through my manipulator?" River was puzzled at how this had happened, no-one should be able to hack her vortex manipulator to get it to force a call through time. Apart from the Doctor and herself.

"River, it's me."

"Amy? River said shocked to be hearing her voice

"Isn't that supposed to be Mother Melody?" Amy said jokingly chastising her daughter.

"Yes Mother." She said back in response, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Can I ask how you managed to be able to call me, it's been Months since I saw you Mother. There is no way your phone could have charge still. That must be the way, if The Doctor had managed to somehow get you, he would have told me. And what about father? Is he with you? Is he okay?"

"Slow down. Yes, your father is with me and he is fine. And yes, I am using my phone, your wonderful father worked out a way to get it to charge. It is so good to hear your voice River. I've missed you so much."

"Same here. The Doctor does as well. We'll have to find a way for you to be able to call him as well. I might not be able to see you anymore, but it feels good that I will be able to talk to you."

The Doctor had a huge smile on his face. River's story had buoyed him so much. Whilst he loved the early stage of getting to know Clara and introducing her to the wider universe. But he did miss the presence of Pond and Rory the Roman so much. They were his best friends and their absence were strongly felt.

"Are you certain they seem happy?" He asked

"Yes, they seemed very happy. This was just the start. Over the months there was many phone calls. I still hadn't worked out a way for them to contact you by that point, and I didn't want to raise your hopes of them being able to get you in the TARDIS so I didn't tell you. During one of our conversations something was mentioned and Amy thought of something we had both not considered"

"What did she figure out River? How did she work out how we could get them back?"

Reader Note:- Thank you so much for the support so far Thanks for the couple of reviews and the large amount of follows on this. But reviews make me happier! So keep them coming!


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